Defining strategy is challenging and even harder to get a group to agree on a common definition. Ultimately, we see the value of strategy in “resolv[ing] the big issues, so that people can get on with the little details.” 1
Here are our working definitions:
Strategy enables group consistency through definition, direction, and focus.
Strategy-making is the how and why of changing that definition, direction, or focus.
Strategic planning is the effort to bring about those desired changes.
Strategic innovation consists of the practices that enable the CLA community to more effectively think, act, and change in ways that lead to better outcomes.
What is our approach?
The Strategic Innovation Office does not set strategy, make policy, or decide direction. Instead, we work with College leaders to shift patterns that will move us in a better direction. How does that work?
- We work to enhance shared contextual awareness—improving our understanding of what is happening. We ask questions:
- What do you observe about your current situation?
- What trends and forces affect your work?
- Who are your stakeholders and what do they need?
- What practices are necessary to fulfill those needs?
- We help identify recurring patterns and the conditions that hold them in place.
- We help describe what “better” looks like: What do you want more of? Less of?
- We help design and manage efforts to shift these patterns that will move you toward the better direction.
- And then we deploy the many strengths and services of LATIS and our other partners to help you succeed: planning, facilitating, managing projects, analyzing processes, collecting data, analyzing data, telling stories, developing training, building tools, and much more.
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1 Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B., & Lampel, J. (2009). Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through the Wilds of Strategic Management (p. 17). Free Press.